Chapter 259 - Pirates!
Chapter 259: Pirates!
“The sea occupies 65% of the area of The New Age. Even the vast sky above us is not as mysterious and unpredictable as the sea. So far, there had been many great navigators in the world, but none of them dared to say that they had explored the sea completely!”
“Opportunities and dangers coexist, beautiful, attractive, frightening. This is the sea.”
Pleater stood at the bow of the ship with obsession, his eyes blurred as he looked far away and murmured, “My greatest dream is to explore every part of the sea! But that damn Stray…”
Lin Jie kept silent.
Stray•Emilia was a Modified Three-Headed Basilisk. A Normal Three-Headed Basilisk usually lived in swamps; its head could spray flames, spit ice, or thunderstorms, which was very powerful. Even the lowest-leveled Three-Headed Basilisk was a level 40 Golden Boss, and its high Magic Damage was more than enough to obliterate Hundred Bandit Team.
But Emilia was a Modified Boss because when her mother had given birth to her, her mother had accidentally swallowed a human girl who had happened to break into her nest to test her Dark Magic. The girl’s soul had merged with the Three-Headed Basilisk and produced some mysterious changes, which hence created this terrible Stray. After her birth, Emilia had been expelled by her peers. She had no choice but to live in the sea and seek the chance of survival by escaping from all kinds of scary sharks and sea monsters.
Gradually, her temperament had begun to change, and she even started to slaughter around after her ability had been wakened. This had finally caused the awakening of the Three-Headed Basilisk’s tyrannical nature, and since then, she had been feeding on travelers. Because of that, she ranked in the top hundred of the Guild of Light’s beast list, and anyone who could kill her would be given rich and generous rewards.
Pleater shouted, “Sailors, sail! Ready to go!”
“Yes, captain!”
Fifty players shouted in one voice and sailed before the envious and jealous eyes of the ones that had not been chosen. As the ship slowly sailed out of the harbor and rode the wind and the waves, they could no longer hold back the excitement in their hearts and rushed to the deck to enjoy the magnificent view.
Pleater raised his chin and said, “Adventurer, try to operate the rudder, you’ll like this.”
Lin Jie tried to hold the rudder tightly. The shape of this boat was an ancient European three-track sailing boat, which was under the classification of cargo ships. It was not as agile and fast as warships or combat ships, but its agility was still not too bad.
“Full sail!” Lin Jie shouted.
The ship could sail in two ways, which were half sail and full sail. The former moved slower but was more convenient in changing directions. Full sail allowed the ship to sail at full speed, and the speed of travel could soar by many times if they sailed with the wind.
At a command, the crew began to work and put down the sails. The speed of travel increased sharply as the wind was blowing easterly.
Ding~
—”Your proficiency in navigation has increased by 10 points.” (P.S. You have yet to learn navigation skills. These proficiency points will disappear in three hours.)”
Pleater smiled. “You’re well suited to be a Navigator. I can teach you the skills.”
Ding~
—”Do you accept the navigation skills taught by Pleater? (P.S. After learning the skills, your Perfect Potion Mastery will disappear.)”
Lin Jie shook his head and rejected politely. Although navigation skills were very good, his main battlefield was the land, not the sea.
In addition… Well, after a long voyage, Lin Jie would get seasick, so just forget about it.
“Wu Dongdong!” Lin Jie yelled.
Wu Dongdong tightened the sail lock rope carefully and was excited to hear that his proficiency had increased by 1 point. Hearing Lin Jie’s call, he quickly wiped his hand on the clothes and asked, “Yes, yes, what’s your instruction?”
Lin Jie laughed and gave up his seat. “Come and steer.”
“Oh… Huh? Huh? Steer? Are you letting me steer?” Wu Dongdong said bewildered. Steering was the fastest way to gain proficiency points! Normal players, usually, could only be personnel for chores, while the luckier ones could be sailors. They could only gain proficiency points by reinforcing sails, anchoring, and other simple tasks.
And now Lin Jie was letting him steer?
“Yes.” Lin Jie smiled and said, “Are you coming or not?”
“I… I… Thank you.” Wu Dongdong held the rudder tightly and almost cried in excitement. He shouted loudly, “Half sail forward! Prepare to leave the strait!”
The others looked at Wu Dongdong unwillingly. How could he get such an opportunity? He was a sinner!
Even so, they did not dare to expose their thoughts under Lin Jie’s eyes. Otherwise, they would be fired.
Wu Dongdong maneuvered the ship to bypass the reefs carefully and accurately and sailed out of the strait. His proficiency had been boosted by 100 points, followed by a large number of experience points, which leveled him up from level 10 to 13 directly!
In The New Age, the players could level up in many ways. This was the charm of the game!
Wu Dongdong looked at Lin Jie’s back with gratitude. He then took a deep breath and concentrated on doing his job.
Lin Jie and Pleater stood at the bow of the ship. Looking at the vast sea, their emotions were like one climax following another and could not be calmed down for a long time.
The sea of The New Age would be an indispensable place for military strategists in the future. There were countless islands and treasures in the sea, and even treasures left by pirates of the Old Age could be found. In Lin Jie’s previous life, there had been several famous naval battles and the most famous of which had been due to the discovery of a Mithril Island! The island had been full of precious Mithril ores that could not be completely extracted within months.
Besides that, there were countless rare fishes, minerals, remains, Gold Iron, and food. If one were lucky, they could also get to explore the legendary Mermaid Bay, which had numerous treasures around.
That was the charm of the sea!
However, the voyage was also a boring journey. People fell sick easily after staying on board for years. Hence, the players could fall sick occasionally or even had a drop in attributes. If they were not treated, they could die.
Scurvy, for example, was one of the most common diseases. Fortunately, Lin Jie, as a college student, valued common sense. The so-called scurvy was just due to lacking vitamin C. Hence, this time round, he had brought dozens of buckets of fresh lemons along. He would rather be sour to death than die from the disease.
A day passed quickly in the dull voyage. It was quite safe even it was late at night because there were military boats patrolling around the waters of City of Light. The crew collected dried beef, cheese, and fruit from several chefs, and found a place on the deck to eat. The sound of proficiency increase rang in their ears, which was like a voice from heaven for these sailors.
Especially for Wu Dongdong, as the proficiency gain from steering was ten times higher than reinforcing sails! If this went on, it was possible for him to break through Middle-Grade!
Wu Dongdong was not someone who would forget friendship for profit. On the contrary, he would seek ways to return kindness and be loyal to friends. This was also the reason why Lin Jie had given this most beneficial position to him, but not anyone else.
Lin Jie sat on the deck and as he was gnawing the beef. He opened his Friends Column and texted Bu Yi.
“What are you doing now? Oh, leveling up, where? The Elf Dungeon, and you’re attacking the Boss now? It’s okay, I can guide you remotely, hey hey, don’t ignore me, killing Bosses requires skills. Don’t use healing fist, I’ll teach you some tricks…”
“Hello? Qiu Yuan, are you also killing the Boss now? Oh hehehe… Of course, I know you teamed up with them to clear Elf Dungeon… No, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m voyaging, yes… hello? Hello?”
“Sis Netherblue, you’re killing the Boss now, right? I’ve recently discovered a new dungeon, are you interested? Hehehe, I know you are, and let me tell you more about it…”
Toot!
The conversation was hung up.
This was the first voyage experience for Lin Jie in his current life. Naturally, he wanted to find someone and show off about this, preferably a woman. Unfortunately, the several girls he knew where all clearing Elf Dungeon. The monsters of Elf Dungeon came out one after another, who could spare time to deal with him?
Since these girls ignored him, he shamelessly called his sister.
“Hello? Bro? I’m sleeping, don’t wake me up! What voyage? Don’t wake me up even if the sky’s collapsing. I dreamed that I was admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts. It’s all your fault. I’ll go back to dream and see if I can catch up with it…”
Toot-
Lin Jie burst into tears and dialed a number.
“Hi, mum…”
It was like how the Chinese song’s lyrics said that “There’s only mum care about you in the world, a child who has a mother will be treated like a treasure”. Although Lin Jie’s mum did not even understand what did navigation meant in the game, or even what it meant when Lin Jie leveled up to 30, she still praised him as a man who was all-powerful, handsome and filial towards parents, as if Lin Jie was a deity who had come down from heaven.
Lin Jie bragged for half an hour, and his mother praised him for half an hour. Until Lin Jie heard that her voice was a little dry, he then finally stopped and laughed. “Mum, you’re the best.”
“You brat, that’s too mushy. It’s late, go to bed now!”
“Okay, okay.”
Before he hung up, he heard the sound of the door closing. His mother must have gone to the balcony to answer the phone so that she would not wake his dad.
Lin Jie sat on the deck, took out Silent Killer, and wiped it in silence. A thousand thoughts came to his mind. All tragedies would change in this life, right? No, absolutely no tragedy, there would only be comedies!
At this time, a roar suddenly resounded! The surface of the water burst open with a ‘boom’ sound, and the ship was tilted as the water surface fluctuated violently.
A bright light shone not far from their boat!
“Damn, they’re pirates!” Wu Dongdong jumped up and yelled, “Attention, gunner, prepare fortifications! Brother, brother!”
Lin Jie was stunned and then realized that he was called. He shouted to Wu Dongdong, “Yes?”
“There are pirates! The sailors on our boat are all players. Even if we can operate the cannon, we can’t possibly defeat the NPCs. You are the only Battling job, and we need your help!”
Lin Jie pulled out both of his swords and said coldly, “What do you want me to do? Tell me!”
Wu Dongdong was stunned, a trace of gratitude flashed across his eyes, which was quickly replaced by craziness.”Board their boat and kill the helmsman!”